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He Qiao instinctively looked up, not startled, but the phrase “being misidentified” hit a nerve.
He thought about how he was deceived into participating in this variety show, wishing he could call Zhang Miya right away and ask what kind of story she was selling.
Liu Rumen didn’t expect that the narrative could still be enhanced in this way. Her eyes lit up instantly, feeling like she had learned something new.
She exclaimed, “So, our Pillow Sister, who is as beautiful as a flower, can’t possibly be just a pure manicurist.”
Chi Yizhen retorted, “Ask her yourself when you go to sleep tonight.”
[So harsh, Chi Yizhen is clearly doing it on purpose, getting back at her.]
[Haha, this banter between the guests is really funny. He Qiao silently helped Chi Yizhen button up, so domestically skilled.]
[He Qiao, don’t forget your career because of taking care of your wife. Your customers are waiting for you.]
The customers were calling for the boss, and He Qiao motioned for Chi Yizhen to take a seat while he turned to leave.
Chi Yizhen didn’t engage in further conversation with Liu Rumen; he simply followed He Qiao.
Customers were placing orders and couldn’t help but glance at the two by the barbecue grill.
Because the filming equipment was discreet, even though there were crew members among the crowd, regular customers rarely noticed.
Perhaps high school students had just finished evening self-study. A few of them crowded together, chatting and picking up skewers while watching He Qiao.
He Qiao didn’t speak; his barbecue skills were smooth and fluid, while Chi Yizhen stood by and observed.
A group of young girls shuffled around to find a place to sit, and two of them hesitantly approached.
Chi Yizhen thought to himself, “Classic plot, they must be here for He Qiao.”
He Qiao focused on grilling, and the sight of him alone made it a feast for the eyes.
Unexpectedly, the high school girl with a ponytail walked directly towards him.
“Hello!”
The loud greeting, accompanied by a bow, caught Chi Yizhen off guard.
Chi Yizhen hurriedly moved to assist her, asking, “What are you doing?”
Her eyes sparkled. “You are Chi Yizhen…”
Chi Yizhen leaned in suddenly, lowering his voice, “I won’t admit it so easily.”
The young girl turned her head, a bit puzzled.
She looked at Chi Yizhen and noticed his smiling eyes and serious expression. It didn’t seem like a joke at all.
She gasped.
Lowering her voice as well, thinking she was being discreet, she took out a notebook and pen from her backpack and handed them to Chi Yizhen.
The expectation was evident in her eyes.
Unable to escape from the live broadcast situation, Chi Yizhen had to go along with the flow.
“I haven’t acted in many years and only had a brief stint. How could you still recognize me?” he asked.
The girl seemed a bit shy, looking up at the male lead from the idol drama she had watched in elementary school. Her voice was trembling a bit as she replied, “Because I have a lot of your stickers.”
[His character is getting richer and richer! More and more like Chi Yizhen.]
[This is clearly irresistible!]
[Haha, Chi Yizhen seems quite helpless.]
[To be honest, I also had stickers, used to put them on my desk.]
[Chi Yizhen started acting when he was a teenager, even though the acting wasn’t great, he did have a vintage filter.]
[A bit envious; meeting the real person, Chi Yizhen seems quite gentle.]
“Back then, my styling was quite outrageous,” Chi Yizhen nodded.
The little girl shook her head, sincerely saying, “Very handsome!”
Looking around, she might not be following variety shows closely, assuming Chi Yizhen genuinely lacked information. She curiously asked, “Why are you working at a barbecue stall now? I heard you’re not acting anymore, and life is difficult, so…”
This kind of remark sounded a bit tactless; even the most understanding person might feel upset.
On the screen, Chi Yizhen continued to smile at the girl, “Yes, it’s tough, but we still have to keep going.”
He readily signed his name and asked the little girl what kind of blessing she wanted. She mentioned hoping for good results in the monthly exams, and Chi Yizhen wrote, “May you excel in your studies.”
The high school student took back her notebook, still feeling that Chi Yizhen, who used to be so great, feeling out of place here, the little girl innocently asked, “Can’t you continue acting? Do you really have to be here…?”
Chi Yizhen shook his head, “No one is looking for me for acting roles.”
He turned to look at He Qiao, who was still working: “The boss here, take a look.”
His fingers were still slender, but visibly different from the idol drama era.
There were obvious wounds and calluses, no longer the young master pampered by his family.
“He is my boyfriend now, and we will get married later.”
He spoke with the scripted lines that Chi Yizhen would say in the variety show. But at this moment, under the yellowing tung tree with string lights, surrounded by neon lights from other stalls, he seemed to have walked from an insulated box to the outdoors, standing resolute and determined.
It easily made people feel that the person he was looking at could completely nourish him.
The middle school student exclaimed, paused for a few seconds, then accepted it, “Hmm, this boss is really handsome. My classmate just said so.”
She asked another question, “Is he good to you?”
In fact, it was only the second day of the show, and Chi Yizhen didn’t really know how to answer.
But He Qiao was genuinely a good person. Even if there was an element of acting, Chi Yizhen found him amusing and a bit unconventional.
Chi Yizhen nodded, “He is a very nice person and treats me well.”
[Wow! I’m immersed in this atmosphere!]
[Is this staged? But looking at the school badge of this little sister? We go to the same school, a boarding school, allowed to use phones only once every half a month… probably not staged.]
[It’s so heartbreaking. Even though it’s a live variety show, it’s completely Chi Yizhen in person. No one is offering him acting roles, so he has to find another way to make a living.]
[But he still wants to live on… What has he been through? Sob sob sob.]
The middle school student smiled, “That’s good.”
Chi Yizhen said, “Go ahead and sit. I’ll bring the barbecue you ordered to your table.”
As Chi Yizhen walked over to help He Tiao, He Tiao shook his head.
In the midst of his busy schedule, he looked up and gazed deeply at Chi Yizhen.
Chi Yizhen asked, “What’s wrong?”
He Tiao said, “Did I overreach by trying to befriend you?”
[Hahaha, why does this sentence sound a bit aggrieved!]
[I never thought E God would say such words. Oh, he’s selling barbecue now.]
[Well, that’s a bit unexpected. After all, Chi Yizhen’s variety show persona is a fallen young master-turned-celebrity.]
[I’m wondering if it weren’t for the variety show, would their identities have intersected?]
[No chance at all. E God never shows his face. He doesn’t even attend the company’s annual meetings. Chi Yizhen… sigh, he’s really in a tough spot. No acting gigs, working behind the scenes, taking odd jobs everywhere… no connection at all.]
[It’s too heartbreaking!! Thanks to Xianggua! I’m really curious how Manager Zhang Miya convinced E God. He looks so resentful, haha.]
Chi Yizhen made an exaggerated expression, then glanced around. Seizing the moment when no one was placing orders and no one was around to add ingredients, he surprised He Tiao with a quick peck on the cheek.
He almost lost grip of the skewer in his hand.
Chi Yizhen said, “What are you thinking? You’re handsome and can make the braised duck I love. Perfect.”
He paused and, under the light, smiled even more brilliantly. “You’re completely my ideal type.”
“Even if my brother doesn’t agree, he’s not here anymore. If he saw us working hard like this, he would be happy, right?”
After finishing his words, Chi Yizhen felt a bit thirsty and reached for the cup beside He Tiao. Instead of asking, “Can I have this?” which would have felt awkward given their relationship from the show, he naturally took the cup, opened it, and drank.
He Tiao was still in a daze, mechanically flipping the grilled meat.
Chi Yizhen teased, “Cousin, are you being silly? Still angry about my brother disliking you back then?”
[If it were me, I’d be silly too.]
[I’m He Tiao, also known as E God. I’m approximately 1.85 meters tall, the CEO of the well-known game company Star Trail. One day, I woke up with an extra wife, and I turned into a barbecue guy. No room the size of a football field, no precious figurines filling the shelves, just a wife as beautiful as a fairy. It’s terrifying.]
[What on earth is going on upstairs? Having such a wife must be secretly delightful!]
[If they don’t have any interactions in the future…]
This kind of conversation really tested He Tiao’s ability to respond on the spot, and he could only shake his head.
As Chi Yizhen placed the grilled skewers aside, he said, “He’s just worried about me.”
In fact, the original owner of these memories rarely had the chance to talk about his past.
Chi Yizhen wanted people to know about that repressed, painful time.
Chi Yizhen and Chi Yiming had thought they could get through those tough times by relying on each other.
Now was a good opportunity.
“My brother, from childhood to now, has always worried about me,” Chi Yizhen paused. “He thinks that in the future, I should find someone to take care of me, and we should live a good life without hardships.”
He smiled, went to deliver the plate of barbecue to the students at the table they had served earlier, and when he returned, He Tiao had new orders, so Chi Yizhen stayed with him.
He Tiao asked, “And then?”
Chi Yizhen said, “And then what? You already know, don’t you? Our family fell on hard times, my parents are no longer around, and my brother is busy paying off debts, too busy to care about me.”
His tone became much lighter. “I never thought that because I didn’t study well and ended up getting into fights that led to him chasing me and, by a twist of fate, meeting you.”
He Tiao thought about that scene and still felt it was too exaggerated.
Must be something from a TV drama; who would actually fall into a pile of socks?
But if it was Chi Yizhen, he found it quite normal. Maybe this guy did it on purpose.
[That scene…]
[It’s hard to imagine E-God squatting on the ground selling socks.]
“My brother is good to me, but he’s just unlucky.”
With the charcoal crackling against the meat, Chi Yizhen stood on the side, the bustling night market crowd forming the lively backdrop.
It wasn’t the busiest time yet, but it was busy enough.
They would often get interrupted while talking.
But that didn’t stop He Tiao from asking, “And then?”
“He was originally adopted by my parents, but then they had me a few years later.”
In the memories of the original owner, the older brother was gentle, scholarly, but actually had a strong personality and was very protective.
He took care of everything himself, so it wasn’t surprising that the original owner didn’t care much about other things.
He Tiao had read about these details in the information and the live broadcast audience had seen them too, but hearing it directly from the person involved gave a different feeling.
Now, Chi Yizhen spoke with a nostalgic expression. Even as the smoke from the charcoal swirled around him, it gave him a sense of rebirth.
“When I was a child, I didn’t really like him. I always felt like he was nagging me, interfering even in my friendships.”
Chi Yizhen shrugged and glanced at He Tiao. “You’re also the result of my rebellion.”
[The first half is true, but Chi Yizhen didn’t meet He Tiao; he met Sheng Xin.]
[If he had met He Tiao back then, would Chi Yizhen’s older brother have objected?]
[If it were someone selling barbecue, he probably wouldn’t have agreed… In reality, in destitution, similar social backgrounds are often considered enough.]
He Tiao asked, “Do you regret it?”
Holding a skewer, sprinkling seasoning, flipping the meat, and finding time to glance at Chi Yizhen.
In an instant, Chi Yizhen understood what he was asking.
Would the original owner regret it?
If he had known about the day when he would be threatened with something left by Chi Yiming, would he have thought it better to have given in to Sheng Xin earlier?
Chi Yizhen shook his head.
“There’s nothing to regret,” Chi Yizhen under the light had a piercing gaze, his eyes so deep and affectionate that He Tiao almost believed he was the love of Chi Yizhen’s life.
“Now that I have you, ‘hubby, you’ll treat me well, right?”
[Oh my, that’s too sweet. I can’t handle it!]
[Haha, as soon as Chi Yizhen mentioned ‘hubby,’ I knew it was flirting… Condemnation!]
[I shamefully fell for it; it’s really addictive.]
[He Tiao doesn’t dare to look at him… something’s fishy in his mind.]
After a while, when the skewers were almost overcooked, He Tiao nervously picked one up and placed it on an iron plate. As he brushed shoulders with Chi Yizhen while serving the guests, he whispered, “Yes.”
“I’ll be good to you for a lifetime.”
Author’s note:
Yay! Made it to the ranking!!
Thank you for reading!